Headsup: Disney's Hulu - mafia tool?! First warning already sent to the Knox series production team about the hoaxes and mafia connections. The Daily Beast's badly duped Grace Harrington calls it "the true story of Knox’s wrongful conviction of the murder of her roommate". Harrington should google "rocco sollecito" for why Italians hesitate to talk freely.

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Summations: Defendant Leaves Court As Prosecutor Proposes What Meredith Was Subjected To

Posted by Peter Quennell

Click above for the full report in the Sun, once again by Nick Pisa.

Please be warned that this below is very difficult and intensely sad reading. It seems to build upon some expert testimony that was only presented behind closed doors

Murder suspect Amanda Knox broke down in tears as the case against her was summed up today.

The American student was led from the courtroom after prosecutors outlined the horrific violence British student Meredith Kercher suffered before her death.

They claimed blonde Knox, 22, known as Foxy Knoxy, “harboured hatred” for housemate Meredith - and “killed her to take revenge”.

Meredith, 21, was “too serious” for Knox, it was claimed.

When Knox returned to the courtroom in Perugia, Italy, today, she appeared shaken and her eyes puffy…

Summing up the prosecution case, Giuliano Mignini said: “Knox and Sollecito arrived at the house with Guede. Meredith was already there and the evening began to degenerate.

“Meredith and Amanda began to argue over money. Meredith was also upset that Amanda had brought another man (Guede) back to the house they shared.

“They argued about this ugly habit of hers, and the three who had arrived were also under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Mr Mignini added: “Meredith was far too serious a girl for Amanda, she didn’t like her or her friends because they were critical of her hygiene and habits.

“Amanda harboured hatred for Meredith and that night the time had come for her to take revenge - and that’s when Meredith’s ordeal began.”....

Mr Mignini outlined the horrific violence Meredith suffered before she died.

He said: “Amanda grabbed her by the hair and hit her head on the floor. Rudy finished what he did (sex) and Sollecito was threatening her with his knife.

“Amanda also had a knife and held it to the left side of Meredith’s throat and as the crescendo of violence grew inflicted the deepest cut.

“Meredith did not want to submit herself to the sexual violence.”

As he spoke Knox appeared to be in discomfort and took several deep breaths.

Her lawyer Luciano Ghirga held her hand reassuringly and squeezed it several times, while a female prison guard behind her stooped down and asked twice if she was ok.

Minutes later Mr Mignini’s closing speech was interrupted as Knox had to be led out to compose herself.

The court heard how Knox “dominated” her relationship with Sollecito, who in turn was “dependent on her”.

Mr Mignini claimed video footage of the couple showed computer studies graduate Sollecito “following on behind her, often kissing and cuddling her”.

The Summations: More On How The Prosecution Launched Forth - And On Possible Motive

Posted by Tiziano

[Above: The two prosecutors today - click for larger image]

The TGCOM news service quoted this statement on the theory of the motive.

“Amanda Knox harbored hatred for Meredith… and so it was time for revenge rather than flirting….” According to the prosecutor Amanda wanted revenge on “that girl who was only with her English friends, and who reproached [Amanda] for her lack of cleanliness.” Thus was set under way “the calvary of Meredith.”

And this report from Umbria Journal adds details to the description posted below from Il Mattino

PM Giuliano Mignini spoke of a “unique event” of a trial which has “involved three continents”, opening his summing-up address in the trial of Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox.

“A media trial in which the elements which emerged in court largely vanished,” the magistrate affirmed. “Detectives in search of notoriety, writers, bloggers, and mystery writers alternated with one another in a sort of parallel trial. But the trial is taking place only in this court room.”

Rudy Guede has been the “convitato di pietra” [literally, silent guest] in the trial of RF and AK according to Mignini. “In a way he has always been present,” the magistrate said referring to the Ivorian, already condemned to 30 years in prison by fast-track trial for complicity in the murder of Meredith Kercher with the two young people.

“Supporters of Sollecito and Knox” Mignini stressed “don’t stop at proclaiming their innocence, but they accuse him [Guede] too. They say that they were not at the crime house, but they also say the assassin is Guede. The accused wanted to create a parallel trial without his being able to defend himself.”

The PM then claimed that the breaking of a window in the bedroom of one of the Italian housemates of Knox and Meredith Kercher carried out according to the prosecution to mislead the investigations “is the special key to the event and the mystery. If it was simulated, as is evident, the authors are Knox, and Sollecito who always followed her. And the objective was to turn away suspicion.” The magistrate defined the break-in as “the nail on which the defences of the accused are hanging.”

“A nail” he averred “which has fallen down noisily and with it the the defences.” For Mignini the theft was simulated “from the inside, by someone who wanted to turn away suspicions and maybe direct them towards Rudy.”

Amanda Knox “knowingly accused an innocent man”... The reference is to Patrick Lumumba who, however, he did not expressly name, involved in the investigations of the murder of Meredith Kercher through the statements to the police of the young American and then absolved of any wrong-doing (he has actually nominated as a civil complainant against the American who is accused of defamation against him).

“Amanda” the [prosecutor] stressed “did not lift a finger while he was languishing in prison. Neither she nor her mother who was in her confidence. And what a coincidence” Mignini continued “it was a matter of a coloured person like Rudy”

 

The Summations: Nick Pisa In Daily Mail Has A Late-Morning Report

Posted by Peter Quennell

Please click above for Nick Pisa’s full story. Two key claims made by the prosecution:

Murder suspect Amanda Knox was described as ‘dominant’ in her relationship with co-accused Raffaele Sollecito today, as prosecutors began summing up in the case against them.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini said Knox ‘dominated’ her relationship with Sollecito who in turn was ‘dependent on her’. He said this was evident in TV footage from the time of the murder, where Sollecito was ‘following on behind her, often kissing and cuddling her.’

Prosecutor Mignini added: ‘The key to this mystery is in the room where the supposed break-in took place’. Mignini added: ‘This break-in is the nail of Knox and Sollecito’s defence, but it was all simulated.  ‘It would have been manna from heaven for them if blood or other genetic evidence had been found on the broken glass or window frame but nothing was found.”

“This hypothetical thief then did something quite remarkable - he didn’t take anything of value. No jewellery was missing, computers were left at the scene as well as designer bangs and clothes. A “very strange break-in” was in fact how the first police officer who arrived at the house described it - they could not believe that nothing of value was taken.”

Prosecutor Mignini also pointed out how fragments of glass had been found on top of clothes scattered on the bedroom floor which was also unusual for a break-in, especially if the wardrobe had been ransacked after the window was broken.

He added that it was also virtually impossible to climb to the bedroom window of Filomena Romanelli and that it was also the most exposed as it was visible to the road and passing traffic…

The Summations: The Lead Judge And Two Defendants In The Court This Morning

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger images]

[Image below: Amanda Knox is comforted by her lawyer Maria Del Grosso]

The Summations: The Prosecution Starts To Lay Out The Elements Of Their Case

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Above: Prosecutor Comodi. Below: Prosecutor Mignini.]

The prosecution will take at least two days to complete their summation of their case, drawing all of the threads together.

We have been warned by court watchers to expect at least some surprises. The first seems to be that the prosecution starts off where Amanda Knox seems to be especially vulnerable - her false charge against Patrick Lumumba.

Even if the murder verdict against Amanda Knox early in December becomes “not guilty” she might still face a conviction and sentence just for this.

This first report is from Il Mattino with translation by our poster Tiziano.  .

Amanda Knox “knowingly accused an innocent person”:  Thus said PM Giulian Mignini in his summing- up address under way before the Court of the Assizes of Perugia. 

The reference is to Patrick Lumumba , whom he did not nominate specifically, who was involved in the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher through the statements made to the police by the young American accused of defamation against him, and who was absolved of any wrong-doing (and has in fact now nominated as a civil complainant against her).

“Amanda” the magistrate underlines “did not lift a finger while he was languishing in prison. Neither she nor her mother who was in her confidence.  And what a coincidence” Mignini continued “it was a matter of a coloured person like Rudy Guede.” 

“It is time to draw together the threads of this long debate, an event which is unique of its kind in the panorama of Italian and world justice, which has involved three continents.” Thus spoke the PM, Giuliano Mignini, in his address in the trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, which sees accused Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito.

“A straight and sure route for the trial.  The attacks which have accompanied this trial and the continual attempts to delegitimise the police working on it, who however carried out their duties with professionalism, and also their dealings with the court, cannot be passed over in silence,” Mignini stressed. 

Attacks made by persons in Italy and overseas, lawyers not possessing any mandate, detectives looking for notoriety, writers, mystery writers, bloggers who gave themselves the right to undertake a sort of parallel trial, all bound together by lack of accuracy and superficiality.  But the trial is being held only in this court room.”

The Summations: A Summary Of The Agenda For The Next Few Days

Posted by Tiziano

[Above: A shot of the courtroom taken this morning]

A translation of the trial agenda from Giornale Online Di Perugia

LAST LINES IN THE TRIAL OF AMANDA AND RAFFAELE. ON SATURDAY SENTENCING REQUESTS.

Maurizio Troccoli November 19th, 2009 15.33

Just one day after the request for a confirmation of the penalty of 30 years against Rudy Hermann Guede, drafted by the Prosecutor General, in the Appeal Court of the Assizes, it’s over to the other first-stage trial against Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox, still in the Assizes and for the same murder, accused of being the killers of Meredith.

[Today] is the day of PM Giuliano Mignini and PM Manuela Comodi’s summing-up, which will go back over the whole investigation into the murder of the English student. The hearing on Saturday has also been reserved for the magistrates when they will formulate their requests for the verdict.

The PMs will delineate the framework of the investigations carried out by the flying squad of Perugia, by the SCO [Servizio Centrale Operativo of the State Police], and by the scientific police after the crime which took place on the night between November 1st and 2nd, 2007. The witness statements and the scientific evidence against the the two young people, on trial since January 16th of this year, will be summarised for the college, chaired by Giancarlo Massei, with deputy Beatrice Cristiani, supported by six civil judges.

For the first time they will hear the request for a sentence. The PMs will have to ask the judges for the number of years they believe that the two will have to serve. Then it will be the turn of the defence lawyers to play the last cards to try and dismantle the accusatorial theorem of the PMs.

Sollecito, 25 years old from Giovinazzo, and Knox, a 22 year-old from Seattle, have been put on trial for voluntary murder of Kercher, for sexual assault against her, unjustifiable carrying of a knife, theft (about 300 euros, two credit cards and two mobile phones belonging to the victim) and simulation of a crime (for the breaking-in carried out in one of the bedrooms of the crime house in order to derail the investigations, according to the prosecution).

Only the American must answer as well to defamation against Patrick Lumumba, for having involved him with her declarations during the investigation into the murder of Meredith Kercher, in which it was recognised on the other hand that he had no involvement. Both have however proclaimed themselves completely extraneous to the charges.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Rudy Guede Appeal: Meredith Family’s Lawyer Very Disappointed At “Lost Last Chance”

Posted by Peter Quennell

Mr Maresca sounds intensely frustrated at what might have been. 

Here was a chance to put this whole thing to rest with a single truth and an act of real contrition and compassion to Meredith’s family - and Rudy really blew it.

“He could have saved her. He could have acted to save her, then he wouldn’t be here asking forgiveness….  Requests for pardon are always welcome, however, in a civilised country. I think that a positive reaction would have at least led to an immediate intervention, if what Rudy said was true.”

Not surprisingly, the lawyers for Knox and Sollecito are critical of Rudy Guede for not letting their clients off the hook - though he really no further implicated the defendants than he did back at his own trial.

His recent mysterious and unprovoked beating-up in his prison may have had an influence on his frame of mind in court today. Amazing though, as the defense teams incessantly paint him as the lone wolf perpetrator (a theory Judge Micheli discounted at great length) which we know burns him up.

Our poster Tiziano kindly translated this final report on the day from Il Messagero. The article is an update of an earlier report.

REOPENING OF DEBATE REJECTED.

The Appeal Court of the Assizes of Perugia has rejected the request of Rudy’s defence lawyers for the partial reopening of the debate.

PG: ACCOUNT NOT CREDIBLE.

According to the Prosecutor General, what Rudy said was a “little tale which was not credible”. According to the PG a “progression of lesions” was found on Kercher’s body, and death came in a much longer time than what Guede indicated.

PG: NO GENERAL REMISSIONS.

Guede was condemned to thirty years imprisonment on October 28th, 2008 by Perugia GUP Paoli Micheli. His defence lawyers, Walter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile, have appealed against this sentence. In fact the Ivorian has always maintained that he had nothing to do with the murder.

The Prosecutor has not contested the sentencing report, which actually accepted the reconstruction made by the first stage prosecutors PMs Manuela Comodi and Giuliano Mignini.

Today PG Catalani in his summing-up spoke of “full involvement in all the activities to the damage of Meredith Kercher” on Guede’s part.. Moreover, he underlined that the accused should not be conceded general remissions “because he has made no contribution at all in clarifying what happened in the crime house when Meredith was killed”.

KERCHER LAWYER: HE COULD HAVE SAVED HER

“He could have saved her. He could have acted to save her, then he wouldn’t be here asking forgiveness,” replied Francesco Maresca, the lawyer for the civil claim of the family of Meredith Kercher, to Rudy Guede’s words which he asked him to pass on to the relations of the English student killed in Perugia.

“Requests for pardon are always welcome, however, in a civilised country,” he added. “I think that a positive reaction would have at least led to an immediate intervention, if what Rudy says is true,” Maresca added.

However the lawyer talked about a “lost last chance” on the part of the Ivorian to clarify what happened in Via della Pergola. He continued “His words seemed prepared to me.”

And in court, referring to the fact that Guede claimed to have run away in fear, Maresca affirmed,“We ought to think of the fear suffered by Meredith.” As far as the summing up of the PG, the lawyer defined it as “absolutely exact”.

KNOX DEFENCE: GUEDE’S WORDS IRRELEVANT FOR AMANDA

The spontaneous statement made by Guede is “absolutely irrelevant to the position of Amanda Knox.” Luciano Ghirga, one of the defence lawyers for the American said this. “I’m talking with absolute respect about the position of Rudy Guede and his defence - Ghirga underlined - but when he had the opportunity to respond in cross-examination between the parties, in a hearing in front of the world, he refused. I consider his position to be self-serving.”

Then the Lawyer claimed that in the first stage trial of Knox and Raffaele Sollecito “neither the five interrogations of Guede nor his first stage sentencing report are part of the trial, and much less so can his spontaneous statements of today be considered.”

SOLLECITO’S LAWYER: GUEDE HAS LOST A CHANCE

Rudy Guede “has lost the opportunity to tell the truth”, according to lawyer Luca Maori, one of the defence for Raffaele Sollecito, the young man accused of the crime together with his ex-girlfriend Amanda Knox (the summing-up of the PM in the first stage of their trial is on the agenda for Friday) and the same Ivory Coast man.

“Guede continues the old stereotype - Maori said further - according to which he doesn’t know the male person present in the crime house, even though he saw his face. But it is necessary for everyone, and especially for him, to finally tell the truth and to assume his responsibility before the Kercher family.”

 

Mr Maori’s words at bottom above are very curious - perhaps they are quoted out of context. He’s presumably inferring that Guede should have pointed AWAY from Raffaele Sollecito, his client, and instead toward a mysterious missing Person X.

If so, invoking the best interest of Meredith’s family here seems pretty vile - even for a hard-pressed defense lawyer. He should not be denying their true justice. 

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Rudy Guede Appeal: Court Adjourned - Defense Closing And Court Decision December 21st

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Above: The lawyer for Meredith’s family, Mr Maresca, in the courtroom today]

This late report is by Paolo Santalucia of the Associated Press

Later Wednesday, prosecutor Pietro Catalani asked the court to confirm the sentence of 30 years in jail for Guede.

“He is not credible,” Catalani said, adding that wounds on Kercher’s body suggest it took far longer for her to die than Guede’s testimony indicated.

Proceedings were adjourned to Dec. 21, when Guede’s defense lawyers will argue their case.

The court had rejected the request of the Guede appeal team to reopen several components of the investigation, to bring in new witnesses, and to hear testimony on stress psychology and on the towel found beside Meredith.

This does not bode well for his appeal prospects.

Judge Micheli summarised a lot of evidence proving that Guede was throughout a part of the vicious assault on Meredith. He handed Guede a rape conviction as well as a murder conviction and Guede is serving his 30 years in the sex offenders’ wing of Viterbo Prison north of Rome.

Probably the best Guede could have done would have been to come clean, relate the full story, and claim that he was unaware from the other assailants of where events were headed.

But that Guede did not call an ambulance seems to have sealed Meredith’s fate forever. The prosecutor today said Guede had PLENTY of time to call an ambulance while Meredith would still have been alive.

Instead, Guede abandoned Meredith to die slowly and painfully, he went home to clean up, and he went out to a disco.  Thirty years seems pretty light for doing that.

Rudy Guede Appeal: Nick Pisa Of Sky News Reports DRAFT

Posted by Peter Quennell

[Microsoft’s Internet Explorer Version 8 is having a widely reported problem showing these online Flash videos; other browsers all seem to work fine]

Rudy Guede Appeal: Lawyer For Meredith’s Family Mr Maresca In Court Today DRAFT

Posted by Peter Quennell

[click for larger image]

Italian reports are still conflicting and there are none out yet in English.

But it appears that the court has rejected the request of the Guede appeal team to reopen several components of the investigation, to bring in new witnesses, and to hear testimony on stress psychology and on the towel found beside Meredith.

This does not bode well for his appeal prospects.

Judge Micheli summarised a lot of evidence proving that Guede was throughout a part of the vicious assault on Meredith. He handed Guede a rape conviction as well as a murder conviction and Guede is serving his 30 years in the sex offenders’ wing of Viterbo Prison north of Rome..

Probably the best Guede could have done would have been to come clean, relate the full story, and claim that he was unaware from the other assailants of where events were headed.

But that he did not call an ambulance may have sealed Meredith’s fate forever.

Added from Paolo Santalucia of the Associated Press

Later Wednesday, prosecutor Pietro Catalani asked the court to confirm the sentence of 30 years in jail for Guede.

“He is not credible,” Catalani said, adding that wounds on Kercher’s body suggest it took far longer for her to die than Guede’s testimony indicated.

Proceedings were adjourned to Dec. 21, when Guede’s defense lawyers will argue their case.